Bumba meu boi brilho quilombo povoado Vila das Almas: desvendando sonoridades e sociabilidades no quilombo Saco das Almas, em Brejo/MA

Abstract

Bumba Meu Boi is the generic term for the Brazilian popular cultural manifestation that features the ox as its main scenic and choreographic component. In Maranhão, the event gains prominence for its symbolic power, its resilience, and its ability to reinvent itself year after year without losing its essence (IPHAN/MA, 2011). The overall objective of this study was to investigate some of the sounds and sociabilities present in the Bumba Meu Boi of the quilombola community of Vila das Almas, in order to understand how these categories organize figurative social roles in their hierarchies, power relations, spaces, and sociabilities. Our hypothesis was that sounds, as phenomena, organize the choices of figurative social roles (conductor, tambourine players, Pai Francisco, Mãe Catirina, donkey, and bovine workers) played by the residents of Vila das Almas in the dynamics of the Bumba Meu Boi Brilho Quilombo Povoado Vila das Almas event. In this sense, we conducted qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive research, divided into two parts: the first, bibliographic research; the second, field research proper, of the ethnographic type, with participant observation and listening, discussion groups, and semi-structured interviews. To reflect on and perceive the sonorities of the object of study, we used phenomenology and Ethnosonia, a type of ethnography of sound proposed by researcher Paula Molinari (2016). For theoretical foundation, I engaged with authors such as Molinari (2016), Zumthor (2001), Simmel (2006), Ingold (2008, 2023), Weber (2003), Padilha (2019), Turner (2013), Gennep (2011), and Geertz (2008). As a result, we identified socioethnosonic data on some sounds captured in the Bumba Meu Boi of Vila das Almas, which are directly related to the sociability and figurative social roles played by residents during the play. Thus, three socioethnosonic groups (or layers) stand out: in the first group, vocalization, sonic hierarchies, and power relations; in the second group, listening, insistence, and voices of the unconscious; and in the third group, spatiality, kinship, gender, and sounds.